Return of a Friend
by Dragon Kamui
Summary: Six years ago, Naota was left staring at the sky. Now he's 18 and his life is about to change once again. Haruko has finally returned, but stricken with serious wounds. What the hell? How'd it happen? Naota will try his hardest to figure this out.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note- Okay, so this is my first fanfic ever and I'm not so sure if it'll be any good, but please let me know im some reviews. Thanks!

CHAPTER 1-

"So, Ta-kun. How long's it been?" Mamimi said, putting down her spork and leaning back in her chair.

"Huh...?" Naota mumbled in a bored fashion, leaning on his elbows at his kitchen table.

"Oh come on! You know what I mean. ...You miss her a lot don't you?"

Naota looked at his almost full bowl of spicy curry. "It's been six years... and... I don't want to talk about it," he said tilting his head back.

"Oh...okay," Mamimi said, rising from the table. With one smooth move she slid behind his chair and wrapped her arms around his neck gently, putting her head next to his. He could smell her body spray and feel her warm breath on his cheek as she talked.

"Well, I think I'm gonna go now. I've gotta get these developed," she said. Standing up straight, she flaunted 4 rolls of undeveloped photos.

"Okay, seeya," the eighteen year old Naota said as he showed her out of the house.

So much had happened since Haruko had left. Their family-owned bread shop closed and his father and grandfather had left to live with his older brother in America. Even Kanchi, their one-of-a-kind robot, had gone off somewhere. Right now, he was alone. He'd stayed here to finish high school, but he had no idea why. What was he going to do now that he had just graduated? It seemed the only thing he could do well was play a bass guitar.

Sighing, Naota made his way to his room. Things had changed little in this room since that fateful day six years ago. The old bunk bed was gone and in its place was a regular king sized one. Clothes were strewn everywhere, along with magazines and paper. There was a blue and white bass guitar sitting on its stand in the far corner. One magazine in particular caught his eye.

"Was it really that long ago?" he mumbled to himself, touching his forehead. He looked ruefully down at the photo on one of the pages. It was of a young boy, 12 years old. The boy was standing, back to the camera, staring at an orange sky with a blue and white guitar held tightly in his hands. Naota walked slowly to his desk. Carefully, he placed the six-year-old magazine in a drawer, and made his way to his front facing window.

He leaned on the windowsill, looking out at the enormous Medical Mechanica factory. Once again he touched his forehead. Suddenly he saw a bright glimmer in the sky above the huge iron-like structure. Squinting, he focused hard on the small speck, which was growing larger and larger every second. He didn't know what it was until he heard the sound of a small scooter engine. It was her! Haruko was back! Who else had a flying Vespa with a mind of its own?

It was amazing how fast he flew from his room, down the stairs, through the living room, and out the front door, to come skidding to a halt outside his house.

He looked wide-eyed into the sky, adrenaline pumping fiercely through his veins. Clenching and unclenching his fist he watched the yellow Vespa slowly becoming more and more visible.

Suddenly he realized something was very wrong. Kanchi, not Haruko, was driving the magical vehicle. _"What?! W-Where is she?!" _he thought frantically, cursing his normal human eyes because he couldn't see the Vespa clearly.

The yellow vehicle drew closer and closer as Naota stood rooted to the spot, tense and trembling. The tires screamed as it hit the ground zooming straight for him. Naota stood still as the Vespa screeched to a halt a single foot from him.

He stood paralyzed for a moment. He couldn't believe this was happening. Kanchi dismounted the motorbike and helped Haruko off of the seat. She was covered with blood and many serious wounds. She stumbled as Kanchi let her go. Naota rushed forward and caught her as she fell. Haruko looked blearily at him as he embraced her.

"W-Wow.... ::cough:: You're all grown up" she sputtered as she fell limp in his arms.

Tears welled in his eyes as he picked her up carefully. He gave Kanchi a quick stone stare, "Why the hell are you just standing there?! Get my bed ready for her!"

Kanchi rushed off.

"You look just the same as the day you left," he said quietly as he cradled, Haruko in his arms, gently carrying her into the house.

As he made his way to his room, Naoto had thought upon thought flashing through his mind.

Kanchi slid the door to his room open as Naota reached it. He carefully laid Haruko his bed, not caring one bit about the blood that was getting everywhere. All he cared about was her safety. She had to live. He would die if she didn't.

"Kanchi! Go get something to help her! Bandages, water, strips of cloth! I don't give a damn! We just need her to live!"

"N-Naota," Haruko trembled quietly under the warm blankets, "Your not a kid anymore." She smiled and turned her head slightly to look at him as he knelt next to the bed stroking her vivid pink hair.

"No, I guess I'm not," he answered, trying to hold in the tears that were gathering in his eyes, "W-What happened to you?" he cried, putting his head on the bed next to hers, stifling his sobbing. "I've been so... alone... ever since you left. Why'd you leave me?" he cried.

Haruko looked at Naota as he cried next to her, "I... I had to. You were still a kid. I couldn't take you with me. You still had a full life ahead of you, I couldn't let you get hurt. Heh. I still remember the last thing you told me. You... said that you loved me."

Naota opened his eyes and looked into Haruko's. Images of their last meeting flashed in his mind. It was a spur-of-the-moment type of thing that happened all those years ago, but he still held that moment very dear.

"Haruko... why are you crying?" Naota said when she put her head down and looked at the bed quietly sobbing. He lifted her chin so she looked straight at him.

"It's just that I thought I was going to die... and... the first thought that came into my mind was that I needed to see you.... Naota, ever since I left.... I've missed you so much. I knew you were young when we met, ...but I... always had feelings for you...."


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Woot! Number 2! Have fun reading it I guess. Remember my due reward for this: Reviews!!

CHAPTER 2-

Naota looked at her face, she was blushing slightly, "Haruko, you've changed. Your not as airy and light as you were when we met. But... I don't care... your still the Haruko I fell in love with." He leaned forward slightly, putting his lips against hers. She was shocked at first, but didn't resist. The kiss deepened with every second, but it didn't last long. Kanchi slid the door open and stopped walking immediately. There were two pinkish marks on his screen-like face, sort of like he was embarrassed. In his hands was a box of bandages, ointments, a bottle of water, and some towels.

Naoto quickly leaned back and Haruko did the same, resting her head back on the fluffy pillows, her face was very red. Kanchi walked over the Naota and handed him the box, afterwards he left the room, quietly sliding the door shut. Suddenly Haruko closed her eyes tight and began moaning with pain. "N-Naota... I... feel all woozy....i'm gonna... pass..." she didn't even finish her sentence before she blacked out and fell limp on the bed. Naota looked at Haruko with a worried expression, carefully sliding the blanket off of her so he could get a better look at her injuries. She had burned arms and a few deep gashes across her chest and stomach along with smaller injuries on her arms and legs. Thankfully, however, most of the bleeding had stopped.

"Ugh. I have to get her bandaged up fast. She's lost a ton of blood," Naota said to himself, "How about I start with her che" he paused, face turning cherry red, "::gulp:: I guess... it has to be done.... It's a life or death situation right?" he reassured himself. Then with a deep breath he unzipped her red jacket and carefully took Haruko's shirt off without waking her.

It took the better part of an hour but Naota finally finished the bandaging, taking extra care to properly and securely cover all of Haruko's injuries. With the final gauze strip properly applied, he rose and stretched. Naota bent over her and once again covered her with the blanket. Walking to the door to his room he slid it open and looked back at Haruko who was sleeping peacefully under the covers. With a last fond smile he left the room, carefully sliding the door shut and heading down the stairs to the living room.

"Is it really that late?" he said glancing passively out the living room window. The sun was almost gone, casting a deep golden light over the city. The Medical Mechanica factory gleamed brightly in the twilight. Things were much prettier when there wasn't steam blocking out the sky.

Naota jumped with a start when he heard the phone ring. Quickly he rushed to the phone, picking it up and answering.

"Hello?" Naota mumbled.

"Hello, Naota," said the voice of his father, Kamon, "How've things been? I hope you haven't burned down the house."

"I haven't," Naota answered sighing.

"That's good. I also hope you're not 'fooly coollying' around with anyone. Like that Mamimi girl," the voice chuckled. He could hear the laughter of his elder brother and grandfather in the background.

"Dad! I'm not! Mamimi is just a friend!" he yelled defensively.

"Ok then, son, I believe you," once again there was laughter in the background, "I just wanted to call and see how you're doing. It's very nice over hear in America. Too bad you didn't come. Oh well. I guess that's all I wanted to say. Bye then, Naota."

"Yeah, bye." He answered. As soon as he heard the sound of a phone being hung up, he did the same. That was a pointless conversation he thought. He sighed and stared out the window once again. It was almost dark. Turning around he headed into the kitchen. Kanchi was standing at the sink with an apron on washing dishes feverishly.

Naota chuckled as he stood next to the robot. "Hey, Kanchi. You know you don't have to do that anymore, right?"

Kanchi nodded his head as he finished up the last plate, carefully placing it in the drying rack.

"Well, um, could you just stay here with Haruko to make sure she's okay? I'm gonna go for a walk. I need... to think about things," he said putting his hands in the pockets of his baggy khakis. Once again Kanchi just nodded. "Okay, then I'm off." Naota returned to the living room. Throwing on his sneakers he stepped out of the house and took a deep breath. It was getting chilly out. He could see his breath puffing from his mouth in front of him. Without a word he silently began walking down the street, in the direction of the green bridge, his favorite place to go to when he needed to ponder things.

By the time he reached the bridge the sun was well out of view and the streetlamps had flickered into their dreary existence. Naoto quietly watched the calming water for hours. It was around one o'clock in the morning before anything happened. Naota was leaning on the rail when he heard soft footsteps from behind him. He quickly turned around and almost choked. Haruko was standing there, wearing a pair of his pajamas and slippers.

"H-Haruko!? Why are you here? You should be in bed resting!" he said worriedly, stepping forward and gently pulling her into a hug. Haruko once again let tears fall from her eyes as she smiled.

"I just wanted to thank you," she said squeezing him tight to her, "you've done so much for me. You even bandaged me up. Heh, I didn't think you had the guts to bandage _all_ of my wounds." Her face turned to a light color of pink as she talked, still smiling. "Naota, you're all grown up now. You're not the little kid I met all those years ago. I'm so happy being here with you, Naota, but something's about to happen.... I can feel it," she said letting him go and stepping to the railing, a serious look on her face, now.

All of a sudden they saw a shooting star-like light fall from the sky, hitting the handle of the huge factory. A few moments later and they stood wide-eyed in terror as they heard a loud deep noise and saw clouds of steam burst forth from the factory's base.

"What the hell?! I-I thought we took care of that place a long time ago!" Naota yelled exasperatedly stepping forward towards the railing, a look of surprise and horror plastered on his face as he tensed up.

"This is what I feared," Haruko said putting her head down and nervously chuckling, "they've repaired the factory. Once again they're trying to 'iron out the wrinkles'. Naota, if I were you I'd get ready" she said looking at the metal bracelet type thing she wore around her wrist. A small, square piece of metal was clanking around noisily on it.

"Huh?! Oh no! Not this again!" he yelled just as a felt a huge horn begin protruding from his forehead. His head throbbed painfully as a huge robot pulled itself free. With one last violent jerk, the robot fell from Naota's head and went crashing into the water below them. Haruko looked sadly at Naota who was doubled over on the ground, holding his head and sweating profusely.

"Naota. Once again we have to stop them. Will you help me? It's your choice this time." Haruko said, holding out her hand to Naota and smiling oddly. Naota looked up at her. After a few moments he grabbed her hand and stood up, looking over the railing. "I will. But, I don't think I can do _all_ of this alone,"he said smiling and casting a sideways lance to Haruko who was looking at him. She too was smiling fondly. "Haruko, but just for now, let me deal with this one. You need to heal," Naota said as he began running along the bridge. "Kanchi!" he yelled as he jumped the guardrail and ran down to the river's edge. Within seconds, Kanchi landed next to him. Naota looked at Kanchi and nodded giving the go-ahead for the 'fusion'. With a roar, Kanchi grew a huge fang filled mouth and swallowed him up as Naota jumped willingly inside. Another few seconds and Kanchi turned to a flaming red-orange color, a glowing symbol lighting up on his screen-like face.

The transformation came just in time, too. Water flew everywhere as the great robot that had fallen in the water burst forth. It was an enormous ape-like robot. It was gunmetal gray color and spikes jutting from every angle were glistening in the low light from the street lamps. Its single glowing red eye placed on its small square-like head zoomed back and forth looking along the bank and to the bridge. It spotted Haruko and lunged at her, but was stopped forcefully by the Naota-Kanchi fusion. With great strength, the flaming colored fusion robot threw the gray beast back into the water with an enormous splash. As the creature rose from the water it made a growling sound, scanning his opponent.

Haruko watched wide-eyed with joy as time after time the Naota-Kanchi robot beat down the gunmetal intruder with ease. Finally after about five minutes of frenzied fighting, the fusion robot had had enough. It was time for the gunmetal robot to die. With a swift move the Naota-Kanchi fusion leapt backwards and transformed into a large cannon. With a great bang a hot orange ball shot out of the end drilling a hole straight through the evil robot. As it exited the beasts back the orange ball circled around in a wide arc to come zipping deftly back into the barrel of the red-orange cannon. With the ball retrieved and the enemy defeated, the fusion and transformation were useless. Turning back into the regular fusion, the two uncombined, Naota magically pulling himself out of Kanchi screen-like face instead of come out from "other places".

Haruko watched as Naota dusted himself and made his was back up to the bridge. "Naota! How did you do that so easily?!" said exclaimed looking up at him, Naota had grown quite a bit since she had left last and he was now a few inches taller than her.

"I dunno.... I guess I just had some boxed up emotions I needed to get rid of," he said looking down at the ground blushing with a boyish grin on his face.

Haruko smiled then yawned widely. Blinking twice she looked at the sky. "Geez, it's almost two in the morning. I think we should be heading back," she said stretching. Suddenly she gave Naota a wicked sort of smile. The same one she had given him many times six years ago. Sticking her fingers into her mouth she let out a great whistle. Within second the Vespa soared into sight, a dust trail coming out from its back tire. With a loud screech it skidded to a halt next to the sidewalk, facing the way back to his house. "So how 'bout we take this then, huh?" she said looking at him with a smirk on her face.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Chapter 3 is here! Go me! Remember to review it!

Naota got a worried look on his face as stared back at her, "Um, sure. Okay," he said apprehensively. He helped her get on and then got on in back of her wrapping his arms around her waist, making sure he didn't hurt her because of her injuries. Haruko merely grinned and made an odd laughing noise before she did a complete u-turn and headed down the street in the exact opposite direction than what she should have been going.

"Um, this isn't the way to my house!" Naota yelled over the blowing wind.

"I know it's not! Mwahaha!" she said evilly as she flew down the street at very dangerous speed.

Naota shook his head and held her tighter and she began swerving dangerously across the separating line on the street. He had to endure fifteen more minutes of the reckless driving before she decided to pull over.

"Where... are we?" Naoto said getting off of the scooter and stepping away from Haruko. It was beautiful. They were at a calm stretch of the river. A cool breeze was blowing peacefully through the air as Haruko walked up behind Naota, putting her arms affectionately around his neck.

She closed her eyes as she talked to him, "I like this place. I came here a lot six years ago."

"Haruko, your still you, but you seem... different than you were when we met. You still have that odd flare in you... but your more reserved now. Not as... how can I say this" Naota was stopped short as Haruko began laughing letting him go. She smiled before she walked to the edge of river, sitting down. Naota was confused. She'd never acted like this before. Where was the energetic, perverted, and slightly insane Haruko he had met six years ago? No. That didn't matter. She was here now and she wanted to be with him. They loved each other. That's all that mattered.

"Naota, I really like you," she said, wrapping her arms around her knees and resting her chin on them.

"Heh, yeah. So do I," Naota said blushing as he sat next to her.

"But" Haruko began as Naota looked quickly at her, "I bet you still have a bit of kid left in you." She raised her eyebrows and took a sideways glance at him, waiting for his reaction.

Naota looked her and rolled his eyes, snorting with laughter, "Ha! Sure I do! I still hate that so called mild curry crap!"

Haruko burst into laughter as she remembered the day he was first introduced to it. They laughed for a few minutes, but soon it was silent. The only sound that could be heard was the gurgling of the river. Another few minutes passed before the silence was broken.

"So! Its pretty late, huh? I think we should head back to your house now then!" Haruko blurted, grabbing Naota's wrist and jerking him up off of the ground.

"You shouldn't move like that right now! You're still injured!" Naota said exasperatedly.

"HA! Ta-kun! You should know better than anyone I don't do what I'm told!" she said pulling him to her Vespa.

"You've got a point there." Naota said, chuckling as she laughed evilly, jumping onto the Vespa behind her.

With a screech, the Vespa flew down the road in the direction of his house.

"I swear, Haruko! That was a record! How the hell did you get here so fast?" Naota said patting his wind-blown hair down.

"Hahaha! I sped! That's how! Hahaha!" Haruko laughed as she jumped off of her motorbike. Naota chuckled as he followed her into the house. Throwing off his shoes he went to his room. He found Haruko sitting in his desk chair with her elbow dropped off the back, looking at the magazine he had put in the desk. "Naota, you really didn't want me to leave, did you?" she said turning the chair and looking at him with a solemn expression on her face. Naota just looked at the floor, his face reddening with each passing second. "Ta-kun, it's nothing to be embarrassed about."

"It's just that I...." Naota began, but he didn't have time to finish. Haruko had gotten up from her chair and embraced him in an affectionate hug. Naota stopped mid-sentence and closed his eyes. He was filled with joy. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as they stood in the middle of his room. They spent nearly five minutes in the deep embrace, neither wanting to break it, but eventually Haruko stepped to the side. She looked around his room and spotted her old bass guitar.

"Wow! You still have this old thing?" she said picking it up and plucking a beautiful deep tone.

Naota chuckled as he answered her question. "And how am I _not_ supposed to still have it? If I remember correctly, when you had it you did horrible stuff to it and it never broke. You dragged it along the road while on your Vespa," he began to count off the different things on his fingers, "you whacked me with it, you whacked a bunch of other stuff with it, you shot people with it," at this point Naota shivered as he remember the gun fight he had had with her and his father, "you stabbed stuff with it, you rode it, you chucked it at stuff, and that's not even scratching the surface!"

"Ha ha ha, very funny." She said putting her old bass guitar down and walking to the window, yawning.

Naota yawned too, as he flumped down on his bed, putting his arms behind his head and closing his eyes. Haruko followed suit, jumping onto the bed and snuggling next to Naota. His face turned deep red as he gulped and looked at Haruko who had her eyes closed and was smiling oddly, "Uhh, Haruko? W-What are you doing?"

"Hmm? I'm just trying to sleep. Where else am I supposed to? There's no bunk bed anymore and your dad's isn't there anymore," she said looking up at him with big puppy eyes.

"I...um... uhhh" he said nervously, pulling the blankets up over the two of them, "You're right... I guess."

"Yeah," she said drowsily closing her eyes and falling almost immediately into a deep slumber.

Over the next week, things had settled down at Naota's house. He had gotten used to Haruko being around and had bought her her own bed. Kanchi had once again become their personal errand boy and was running daily trips to and from the stores in the heart of the city. Haruko's wounds were also almost completely healed and she was feeling as energetic as ever. Things were certainly once again becoming strange, too. Lastly, two other robots had made their way through Naota's head and been easily defeated since the arrival of the first gunmetal gray robot.

"Ta-kun! Hey! Where've you been? I haven't heard from you in about a week! Naota? You here?" Mamimi yelled, knocking on the front door jam to Naota's house and stepping inside. She nearly fell over as Haruko peeped her head from around the corner to the kitchen hallway with a toothbrush in her mouth.

"Hmmm? Ya looken fer Ta-kun? 'E went to get sumpthin' at the store. I think he should be here soon, though," she said stepping out of the hallway, absent-mindedly taking the toothbrush out of her mouth and checking the clock on the wall. It was 12:43pm.

Mamimi's jaw dropped as she let the small paper bag in her hand fall to the ground, spilling its contents: packs of newly developed photos. "H-H-Haruko?! You're back!" she exclaimed. Bending over she picked up her photos and placed them back in their small paper bag.

"Mmhmm. I've been back for about a week actually. Hey! Here's little Ta-kun, now!" Haruko said walking over to the door and looking outside and around the corner. Naota was walking down the street with a plastic bag in his hands.

"A... week?! Wooo! That shows how much I miss for stepping out for a week!" Mamimi said, stepping outside to meet up with Naota as he approached the house.

"Mamimi! I haven't seen you for a while," he said upon reaching the door to the house and walking inside, followed closely by the 23 year old.

That night, they gathered at the kitchen table to eat dinner together. Dinner was almost completely silent as they sat chewing their food. After nearly ten minutes of silence disturbed only by the clanking of eating utensils on plates Haruko broke the silence.

"Good lord, can you two be any quieter?" Haruko asked putting down her spork, "This is not the way I remember dinner! Hahaha! Those days were quite fun."

"Ah well. It's getting pretty late," Mamimi began looking at her small watch, I'm gonna head out now,"

"Sure, seeya," Naota said leaning back in his chair.

"Good-bye, Ta-kun," the girl said as she walked out of the room.

After she had left, Haruko looked at Naota from across the table where they were sitting. "Naota, I thought you used to hate being called that."

Naota sat forward, leaning on his elbows, "Yeah I did, but I guess six years of being called that by Mamimi has dulled it down a bit."

"I see," she said looking at the table, "Um, there's something I want to tell you, Naota. Do you remember that I left to find Atomsk?"

Naota clenched his jaw as he stood up very fast, knocking over his chair and banging his palms on the table. He didn't want to hear about Atomsk, the Pirate King. He didn't want to have to deal with the fact that Haruko might still love him. He wanted her to be all his. "I don't _care_ about him. I'm going to my room."

Haruko watched as he trudged out of kitchen. She tried to talk, but no words came from her mouth. Naota apparently didn't like Atomsk. at all, but why would he. After she heard the sounds of him walking up to his room, she leaned back in her chair and looked at the ceiling. "I only wanted to tell him the it wasn't Atomsk I was searching for. It was him, but I just was to blind to see it," she said quietly to herself, as she began sucking on her spork.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N- Yay! Chapter 4! Heheh i did most of this in school on notbook paper! Anyway, remember my reviews!

CHAPTER 4-

Up in his room Naota was trying very hard not to lose his temper. He was leaning on his forearms, fists clenched, on the top of his desk. Naota sat with his eyes shut tight taking deep breaths to calm himself. _"Why? Why would she bring Atomsk up? I thought she loved me. Why?"_ he thought frantically until he heard a soft knock at the door nearly fifteen minutes after he had stormed out of the kitchen. "What do you want?" he snapped at the person on the other side of the door knowing full well who it was.

"Naota... I just wanted to say that... um... can I come in to say this?" Haruko said quietly from the other side of the door.

"I don't care," Naota said sharply leaning back in the chair.

Haruko quietly slid the door open and stepped into the room, sliding the door shut behind her. Naota snorted and turned his head away from Haruko's direction. "Please, just hear me out. Naota, I was going to tell you that I found Atomsk, but... I realized I wasn't really looking for him anymore.... Naota... it was you I was looking for the whole time. I was just too blind to realize it."

Naota felt as if his heart froze for a moment as he turned around to look at Haruko. She was trembling with her arms held tight against her chest and she looked as if she was ready to cry. Naota was instantly filled with pity as he saw her standing there like that.

"Haruko... I'm so sorry. Forgive me," he pleaded as he got up and embraced her.

"I forgive you," she said quietly, closing her eyes, enjoying the moment.

The hug lasted a few moments before something odd happened. Haruko moved back slightly and almost forced him into a deep kiss but accidentally tripped and fell backwards onto Naota's bed, followed closely by Naota himself because she tried to grab him to stay upright. By natural instinct he put his arms out so he didn't hurt her as he fell, and ended up landed overtop of her. They were in quite the precarious situation. Naota was the first to make a move, surprisingly enough, and soon one thing led to another....

The next morning, Haruko awoke to find that Naota was already awake. She got dressed and headed downstairs to the kitchen. She found Kanchi making eggs and bacon, and sitting at the table was an abnormally cheerful Naota.

"Hey! You like to sleep in don't you?" he said smiling as she made her way to her normal seat across from him.

Haruko raised an eyebrow. "I think I had a good reason to sleep in, you know," she said chuckling, "A plenty good reason."

Naota just smirked as Kanchi put a plate of hot food in front of him and Haruko. Now he knew exactly how she felt about him. Why would she have let him do that if she didn't love him?

It only took them about fifteen minutes to eat their breakfasts and soon afterwards Haruko and Naota decided to go down to the river to bide some time. There truly was nothing to do anymore now that Naota was out of school and Kamon and his grandfather had left.

After the dishes were in the sink they headed outside. Haruko got on her Vespa followed by Naota who wrapped his arms around her waist. With a low rumble from the Vespa's engine they were off. It came as a surprise to Naota that Haruko didn't speed this time, she actually went the speed limit.

"_Why isn't she driving dangerously fast?" _he thought to himself, _"Maybe... she just enjoys me hugging her..."_

His thoughts weren't too far off either. Haruko was enjoying him holding her like this.

Within about five minutes they reached the river, and headed down under the green bridge. They sat cross-legged close to the water. It was very quiet and peaceful by the rivers edge as they sat silently. Soon Haruko grew drowsy and leaned her head on Naota's shoulder. He put his arm around her and soon the calm forced thoughts of slumber upon him, too.

Without knowing it, the two of them slept right until sunset. Naota was the first to awaken, having been aroused by a truck passing noisily overhead. He gently nudged Haruko who was now lying with her head on his leg.

"_She looks so peaceful when she's asleep," _he thought as he carefully picked up her head and spoke softly in her ear. "Haruko, it's really late. We fell asleep. Haruko."

"Hmm? She mumbled looking up at him with her bright green eyes. "Wow, I guess we did sleep pretty late, huh?" she said sitting up, stretching, and yawning. Naota was about to get up when Haruko grabbed his hand, making him stay seated. "Please don't get up. I don't want to leave yet. The sunset is so beautiful," she said quietly, looking across the water, which was glowing gold in the sunset.

"Yeah... beautiful," Naota said in an awed fashion, but he wasn't looking at the sunset. He was looking at Haruko.

After a quiet and calm ride home, the two of them decided to grab a quick snack before heading to Naota's room.

"So, Naota, now what are we going to do?" Haruko asked, following him into the room.

"I dunno. Today wasn't very eventful, either," Naota said sitting on his bed.

"Yeah, you're right about that, but it was a good day none-the-less," Haruko answered, once again sitting next to Naota and leaning her head on his shoulder.

"There's nothing to do now except sit here," Naota said, putting his arm around her. Then as if on cue, Haruko's bracelet began to rattle noisily. Both jumped up and looked at, wide-eyed.

"Naota! Get outta here!" Haruko yelled, pointing at the door.

"Right!" he said, darting out the front of his room and out the front of the house.

Haruko quickly grabbed her old bass guitar and instead of going out of the house the normal way, she jumped out the window landing next to Naota who was looking around, ready for anything. Suddenly he felt the all too familiar throbbing in his head. Another few seconds and an enormous, black, snake-like robot pulled itself free. It was nearly the size of Naota's old school.

"Holy shit, Naota! That one had to hurt! You okay?" Haruko exclaimed as Naota, once again sweating profusely, stood up trembling with his fists clenched. He was breathing heavily.

"That thing... has... to DIE!" Naota yelled as he stepped to the side picking up his old aluminum bat that was leaning against the front of the house and brandishing it dangerously.

Haruko looked at him and laughed. "Oh Naota! Why would you use that? Hey Kanchi! Come 'ere!" Within seconds, the robot strode into view stopping in front of Haruko. "Here, use this!" she said as she wiggled her fingers, pulled Kanchi down so she could reach his head, and drove her hand forcefully into his screen-like face. She took a few moments to search around and eventually pulled out a beautiful white Flying V guitar. She strode proudly over to Naota, whose mouth was slightly agape, and handed him the instrument while grabbing the bat and tossing it to the side. "Just a little trick I picked up, don't look so surprised! I did it to you once, remember? She chuckled.

Naota nodded his head as he grasped the neck of the shining guitar, and focused on the enemy who was waving his head back and forth hissing dangerously.

"You ready, Ta-kun?" Haruko said excitedly taking a battle stance and holding her guitar like a sword.

"Yeah! I'm ready!" Naota said smiling menacingly and doing the same.

"On the count of three! One... two... three!" With a roar, both Haruko, Naota, and the black snake robot lunged at each other. This was going to be quite the battle!

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Hahah! Ahhh, cliff-hangers, readers torment, writers entertainment! I think ill have the next chapter donw in one or two days. Hell, i did this one at school!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N- Once again i did this during school, heheh! Reviews!

CHAPTER 5-

Metal clanged on metal as they battled. Haruko and Naota were as one as they fought back and forth, putting dent upon dent into the giant robot.

Suddenly Naota was struck and flung back forcefully, landing hard on the ground and skidding nearly ten feet. He didn't move. Haruko froze, staring at his limp form lying on the ground, a trickle of blood was running down his face.

Just as suddenly as she froze, her face hardened, almost into a snarl, as she spun to face the black snake, who was slowly approaching her. "You will regret that," she snarled, walking over to Naota and picking up the Flying V. With one guitar in each hand she stood, her pink hair covered her eyes as she began trembling with fury. A solitary tear ran down her cheek.

Almost simultaneously, the enemies leapt at each other, Haruko swinging both guitars, and the snake flashing his built in machine guns. With a mighty blow, Haruko smacked the great robot's head into the ground, momentarily stunning it. A few moments later Haruko started up her bass guitar using the small, but still strange, engine on the back. Leaping on it and riding it like a skateboard she flew high into the sky as the robot righted itself reared its head. Opening its mouth, the beast reveled a set of twin laser cannons set as the fangs. With a loud crackling sound, the cannons charged and let loose a bolt of bright blue electricity. Haruko dodged it nimbly, soaring over the beast.

"What's that?" she asked herself as she looked down upon the head of the enormous robot. There was a small pane of super reinforced glass. Under which most likely resided... "The core! That's how I'll take this bastard down!" she snarled spinning the Flying V in front of her as she zoomed towards the head of the robot. The snake figured out what she was doing too late. His attempts to dodge her attacks were futile. Haruko was extremely agile and the bulk of the enormous snake was no match. With lightening speed she swooped in like a falcon catching its prey and slammed the Flying V through the glass, completely destroying the core of the monster. With a few loud crackles the black snake fell to the ground, its circuits completely destroyed. It twitched a few times before going completely still, it's glowing red eyes flickering for a moment before going out forever.

Haruko flew the bass guitar low to the ground and jumped off letting it fall out of the air behind her. She walked slowly over to the spot where Naota lay unconscious. Kneeling down, she picked up his head and held him close as tears began streaming from her eyes. "Naota, please wake up. Don't leave me," she whimpered.

"H-Haruko, I'll be fine. Stop crying," Naota spluttered, as he slowly opened his eyes. With great effort, he pulled himself up into a sitting position and looked over at Haruko. When she saw him grin slightly, she completely lost it, falling forward and grabbing him in a warm embrace.

"Don't scare me like that again!" she sobbed, holding him tight. Naota winced as she held him, but endured the pain of his injuries.

"I won't," he answered as she let him go, "I think we should go inside, now."

Haruko sniffed and wiped tears from her face as she stood. She held out her hand and helped Naota up. Carefully, Haruko lifted his arm over her head and assisted him into the house. After a struggle up the stairs and into his room, Haruko helped Naota lay down on his bed. He was sweating from the pain in his sides and was even running a high fever.

"Naota, you're burning up," Haruko said worriedly, "Hold on, I'll get you something." As she left the room, Naota put his hand on his face, slightly cooling it and blocking out the light which was making his head pound. Soon, however, the pain that was torturing him became so intense that he passed out.

Haruko returned with a small wet hand-towel, a small bag of ice wrapped in cloth, and a bottle of water. She gently dabbed his face, wiping off the blood, and put the bag of ice on the forehead. "I hope you feel better soon, Naota," Haruko whispered, quietly leaving the room to get her blanket and pillow off of her bed which was located in Kamon's old room.

A few minutes later she returned carrying her sleeping things and an old sleeping bag she found in one of the cabinets. Haruko took a few moments to lay her stuff out the looked at the clock on his desk. It read 10:48 pm. Stretching, she checked the ice bag on Naota's forehead then covered him with his blanket. After she made sure everything was in order, she made herself comfortable on the sleeping bag, pulled her blanket up over herself, the fell quickly to sleep.

The next morning, Naota woke up at around 4:45. Haruko was still sleeping. He could hear her quiet breathing under the mass of blankets on the floor. He sat up, letting the bag of melted ice fall next to him. Besides a small throbbing from the cut on his head, and slight soreness on his back and sides, he felt quite back to normal. Yawning, he focused through his dark room on the small red numbers of his clock.

"_Geez, it's still early. Maybe I should go back to sleep,"_ he thought as he turned to get back under his covers. Before he did, however, he stopped. Getting up off of the bed he made his quietly to where Haruko was sleeping on the floor and knelt down. Carefully getting under the covers, he snuggled up against Haruko, putting his arm over her. She smiled in her sleep as Naota closed his eyes and once again drifted into slumber.

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Whew, popping these chapters out one a day is hard, especially with high school and all. I'd better get some reviews please!!!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N-Ooo! the conclusiong approaches!! Reviews, people!!

CHAPTER 6

After the excitement of the black snake robot nothing more happened for the rest of the week. Naota and Haruko, however, had now become much closer than ever.

"It's getting boring around here, Ta-kun. There's no excitement anymore," Haruko said, sitting in the grass under the green bridge.

"Yeah, no excitement," Naota mumbled, staring at the calm river water.

"Hmmm, but I can change that," Haruko said in a suddenly seductive voice. With lightening speed she jumped onto Naota, pushing him on his back and putting her face close to his.

"Haruko... get off," he said in a not-too-convincing tone.

"It doesn't sound like you really want me to get off. Come on, Ta-kun, you know you want to," she smirked. Naota face was quickly turning cherry red.

"Haruko..." he said quietly, "not here. We're in plain view."

"Awww, poor little Ta-kun! You're embarrassed. Don't be! It's _only natural_.!" She said in her seductive voice, forcing him into a deep kiss. He didn't pull away or resist. After a few moments Haruko broke off the kiss and released Naota. He looked quite pleased as he got up off of the ground and held out his hand to Haruko who was sitting in the grass. With a fond smile, she took his hand and stood.

"So now what? We still have to destroy that Medical Mechanica factory, you know," Naota said, crossing his arms and looking towards the giant structure.

"I know, but we'll do that in due time. When the time is right, ya know. But for now, we should just relax and enjoy life while it's sweet," Haruko replied, putting her arms around Naota's waist, and closing her eyes.

"Yeah," he said, doing the same.

That night Haruko volunteered to make dinner.

"Haruko! What the hell are you doing down there?! It sounds like a damn battle.!" Naota yelled from his room. He could hear bangs, crashes, and even loud booms coming from the kitchen.

"Making dinner!" she yelled, "It's almost done!"

Naota rolled his eyes as he got off of his chair, put his new Flying V guitar in the corner and headed down to the kitchen.

"What the fuck?!" Naota hollered as his jaw dropped. The kitchen looked like a bomb had exploded in it. The table was on its side, a chair was broken, the blue bass guitar was sticking out of the wall, food was everywhere, the fridge door was ripped off, cabinets were completely destroyed, debris littered the floor, there was a hole in the ceiling, somehow the sink was on fire, and last but not least, Haruko was sitting cross-legged on the counter, stirring something in a pot, smiling cutely.

"Ya hungry?" she asked, pulling the spoon out of the pot reveiling a strange looking green glop.

"W-what is that?!" Naota said apprehensively.

"Curry!" Haruko answered, beaming. She looked around the room and laughed. "Maybe we should eat somewhere else."

Naota gave her a cold look, rolled his eyes, and nodded turning around and heading back up to his room.

"I'll leave Kanchi a note telling him to clean up this little mess I made," Haruko said as she began sifting through the mess to find some undamaged dishes and silverwear.

Five minutes after he had returned to his room, Naota saw Haruko enter his room carrying two bowls of her strange concoction.

"Here's your curry, Ta-kun," Haruko said putting the bowl down on the desk in front of him.

"What flavor is this?!" he asked leaning forward to get a better look at the green mush in the bowl, scrunching his nose up at the putrid scent.

"It's my flavor! I took regular curry and just threw stuff I liked into it."

"Eeewww! After some of the stuff I've seen you eat?! There's no way I'm eating that!" Naota exclaimed, pushing the bowl towards the back of the desk.

"You better. I'm not making anything else," Haruko said sternly, pushing the bowl back at Naota.

"Grrr. Fine, I'll try it. But that's it! If I don't like it I'm throwing it out!" Naota said picking the spork that was stuck in the questionable-looking curry.

"AND if you DO like it you have to do something for me," Haruko said with a strange grin on her face.

"And what is that?" Naota said raising an eyebrow.

"You'll see, I f I win, that is," she said with a smirk on her face.

Naota looked at the bowl, gulped and put his spork into the curry. With a last deep breath he took a bite, chewed, and swallowed. His face was blank. _"Fuck! For once her curry is actually good! Oh man, what is she going to do to me? Something perverted I bet!"_ he thought to himself.

Haruko had her hands behind her back and was smiling widely. "You like it don't ya, Naota? Hahaha!" she chuckled maniacally. "Oh would you get rid of that look! I'm not gonna make you do anything kinky! But... that may be fun!" she chuckled gauging Naota's reaction. He gave her a worried and slightly scared look.

At that moment Haruko's bracelet began to rattle again. Haruko looked at it disgustedly, "Why does this _always_ happen at the exact wrong moment?"

"I have no clue," Naota said with great satisfaction, "But I'm out of here." Getting up, he grabbed his Flying V, and darted out of the house.

Haruko ran to the kitchen to find Kanchi working diligently to clean it up. Quickly she scanned the room, spotted her guitar, grabbed it and went outside to find Naota standing with his arms crossed.

"Nothing's happening," he said, looking at her and shrugging.

Suddenly they heard the loud alarm-like sound and saw couds of steam burst forth from the Medical Mechanica factory. At that same moment, Haruko's bracelet seemed to be pulled towards it, like it was like some kind of giant magnet. A look of terror was know plastered on her face.

"Naota!" she yelled, "I-I-It's the factory! They've activated it! We have to destroy the core or the world will be destroyed!"

"W-What?! Then we have to get there, FAST!" Naota barked. Haruko looked at the ground, then at Naota, she had fresh hot tears gathering in her eyes.

"Naota... we have to destroy the core, and the only way to do that is to shatter it from the inside. We'd be inside when it blows and probably die!" she sobbed.

Naota walked forward, wiped the tears from her cheeks and took her into a warm embrace. He spoke softly in her ear, "If I'm going to die I wouldn't want it any other way, with you."

Haruko held him tighter as she cried. "Me too," she said burying her face into his shoulder to stifle her sobs, "Just promise me that you'll never leave me."

"I promise," Naota said caressing her back.

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Hahaha another cliff-hanger!! have fun waiting, it probably wont take longer than 2 or 3 days though. and u gotta give me credit for the kitchen scene! Reivews reviews reviews!!!


	7. Chapter 7 The End! Dun Dun DUH!

A/N- this is it, people! The last chapter in my fan fiction for FLCl! Remember to review it and if you hate the ending then put that in a review.

CHAPTER 7-

With a roar, Haruko and Naota shot off of the ground on the yellow Vespa and zoomed towards the factory, soaring over Mabase City. It took only a few minutes before they were flying through the steam, getting soaked in the vapor.

"Naota! When I say, we jump off the Vespa and strike out in front of us. If we time this right we should hit and break through the factory's outer wall," Haruko said, casting a backwards glance at Naota who had a look of determination on his face.

Naota agreed and when Haruko said the word, they leapt off of the Vespa, Haruko to the left and Naota to the right. They executed the move perfectly, both swinging their guitars in perfect unison. With a crash, they hit the wall at exactly the same time. Fire erupted around them as they soared through the large hole they had made. Suddenly the bright of the fire was extinguished and they landed in a pitch-black area. The low rumbling of machines could be heard far off as they stood, pricking their ears. "Haruko, I can't see shit!" Naota said as he shouldered his guitar trying to get his eyes to focus in the dimness

With a small snapping sound, Haruko lit two glow sticks, throwing one to Naota and putting the other in her pocket just enough so that she could still see the light it gave. Naota did the same.

They looked around the dark room as an eerie green glow was cast upon their surroundings. They were in a large corridor. Thick steel pipes lined the walls along with wires of every size and shape.

"You ready, Ta-kun?" Haruko asked Naota as she looked over at him. Her eyes seemed to glow in the pale green light. Sort of like a cat.

"Yeah, ready as I'll ever be," he answered, his heart beat quickening as adrenaline was pumped into his veins.

"This way." She gestured to the left with her hand and walked off in that direction. Naota followed readjusting his guitar on his shoulder.

Without warning, Haruko froze in place and Naota accidentally bumped into her, "Oh! Sorry! Wasn't paying atten..."

"Shut it!" We've got company!" she barked under her breath. Sure enough, little lights red lights began to blink into existence all around them, right out of range of the glow sticks, like wolves waiting for a fire to die. Soon the lights grew greater in number and some very large ones appeared. "Naota, do you remember when you drew on Atomsk's power? You can still do that. Just focus and you can draw the power back. You're really going to need it now, so hurry"

Naota nodded his head, and closed his eyes, tensing up. He concentrated hard and soon he could feel enormous amounts of power gathering themselves within him. With a sudden burst of energy he opened his eyes. He was glowing bright red with energy, his eyes a flaming white. He nodded again, and the two of them charged at the enemies on either side of them. With one stroke of his guitar, Naota destroyed nearly all of the enemies in one side of the corridor. Haruko did the same, whipping out her bass and laying down a line of gunfire, destroying a good number of robots. Within five minutes they had defeated all of the enemies and were soon on their way to the main control center of the factory, the place where the core resided.

They ran full tilt down the corridor, wrecking any and all robots that stood in their way. Haruko and Naota were truly an unstoppable force.

After a while, they reached a set of huge steel-reinforced double doors. Haruko stood in front of them and placed her ear to the steel, listening carefully. With her ear still to the door, she tapped lightly with her knuckles. She stood back, hands on her hips. "Hey Ta-kun, this is triple reinforced steel. The outer wall was only double reinforced. That's kinda stupid if you think about it. But, anyway, it's gonna be hard to get this to crack. On the count of three we hit this door and bust through. By the sound on the other side I'd guess that Medical Mechanica knows we're here and has a whole space fleet full of battle robots on the other side. So if you're ready, I'll start counting. One.... Two.... THREE!!!"

Naota and Haruko put all their strength into the swing, banging on the door. The sound was a mixture of a deep note strummed on a bass and the bending and cracking of steel. Debris flew everywhere in the magnificent display as Naota and Haruko, guitars ready to demolish everything in their path. Robots of every shape, size, and color charged them but were instantly struck down as the two fought in perfect unison. After the fray, all that was left of the robots were piles of mangles steel and wiring. Both Haruko and Naota were breathing heavily.

"N-Naota, you won't need that power anymore. The core is just up ahead," Haruko panted, bending over to catch her breath. She coughed and a small bit of blood dribbled on the floor. With a small whoosh, Naota changed back to normal and rushed to her side.

"Haruko! You're hurt!" he said, helping her up.

"No shit. We just destroyed a whole space fleet full of battle machines. I'm lucky this is all that happened to me," she answered looking up at Naota. She has a deep cut above her left eye. Naota saw and used the sleeve of his light blue sweatshirt to wipe off the blood running down over her eye. "Naota, stop. What's the use? We're just going to die anyway."

"Haruko... I just... I..." Naota stuttered, but he was stopped by Haruko who pulled him into a deep kiss.

"Naota, no more talking. Let's just get this over with. Never in a million years would I have thought that I would be sacrificing my life to save a planet that wasn't my own, but... now I have a reason to..." she said quietly hugging him.

After a few moments she stepped away from him, whipping her face. She had started to cry.

"Haruko, are you ready?" he asked her. She nodded and began walking off in the direction of the core containment room, followed closely by Naota. They passed through a large room filled with giant pieces of machinery then entered a small corridor. Its walls were painted a gunmetal gray and led to a small double-door. Haruko stopped at this door and turned around to look at Naota.

"Well, this is it. The core is inside," Haruko said with a notable tone of uneasiness in her voice. Naota merely nodded as he tightened his grip on the Flying V guitar he had in his hands. With a push of the small green button on the side panel to the door it slid open. As they entered the room they beheld a large circular area. They were standing on a catwalk the circled the entire room. In the very center of the room, below the level of the catwalk, sat the enormous Medical Mechanica factory core. The center of all of its functions. Naota looked at Haruko's face. She was just standing there, her face emotionless. He made a slight move to step towards her, but decided better of it.

"Ta...Naota. You are ready to do this? We most likely won't come out of this alive," she asked him still looking down at the core.

"I am, I made up my mind and I won't back down now. Not now that I have come this far," he answered boldly, grabbing her hand as he too looked at the factory's core.

"Then... what are we waiting for?" she said looking over at him, smiling sincerely.

Naota nodded.

"How...how about we do this together?" she said taking Naota's guitar. He took the hint and also held it. On the count of three both of them leapt together over the railing and slammed the guitar down on the core.

The people of Mabase city were suddenly put into a state of awe as the huge factory began shaking violently. They gathered all around looking at the enormous structure as it began to rumble and fall in a fiery explosion. Within five minutes the whole structure was reduced to rubble, dust and debris flying everywhere. Sirens and noise could be heard sounding throughout the city as people panicked. But throughout all the panic, no one could see the two shadowy figures emerging from the dust, soaring from the panic-stricken planet to the stars above. The power that had been bestowed upon him by Atomsk had come in useful to protect the one person he had ever loved, which was all that mattered to Naota. Now they, Haruko and Naota, were free.

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What an ending! For any of my fan's who've seen Witch Hunter Robin the whole way through, well, this ending should seem a bit familiar. But how else was i supposed to end it? Huh?! Huh?! Answer me that!! Ha! Hhahaha... does anyone else agree that i need help? )


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